"Despite increasing trade policy uncertainty and falling freight rates, the container ship order book has continued to expand. It now totals more than 1,350 ships with a combined capacity of 11.8m TEU,”
"Despite increasing trade policy uncertainty and falling freight rates, the container ship order book has continued to expand. It now totals more than 1,350 ships with a combined capacity of 11.8m TEU,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.
In 2025, global average container freight rates fell an estimated 13% year-on-year while US import tariff increases raised concerns about increasing trade protectionism. Despite this, global container volumes grew 4.7% year-on-year, according to Container Trade Statistics, and shipowners ordered a record high 4.8m TEU of new ship capacity.
During the first two months of 2026, shipowners have ordered another 102 ships with a combined capacity of 665k TEU, bringing the total order book to 11.8m at the end of February; an increase of 28% year-on-year.
“The very largest ships dominating the order book point to a development where larger ships will replace smaller ones throughout the global network of services. 436 ships with capacity of 12k TEU or more are on order and make up 65% of the TEU on order,” says Rasmussen.
However, it is the order book for the smaller ships that has grown the fastest during the past year. The order books for the 0-3k TEU, 3-6k
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